On that particular one, but what says they didnt buy a different one? A test drive ups the odds of a sale.

Or.. what if every single one of those 20-30 people babied it! ;)

I'm in Socal, I was able to test drive all the car when schedule an appointment with the Internet fleet department. I learn that u can't just randomly walk in and ask for test drive. Talk to the dealership, made an appointment and most of the time they let u drive it. From my experience, I test drove the s2000,evo, 335, 550i, z4, e92 m3, c63, E550, ML350, GTR

Had 18 on mine when I got it, the general manager was the only one that drove it. The techs didn't even drive it. (whether or not thats true...who knows)

My tC back in 07 had 3 miles on it. I expected similar, but doubted it would happen.

That is the type of dealership i bought my car from, i waited 4 years for this car, over the course of 5 days my car didnt leave the spot i first saw it in... they wouldnt let any under a 780 credit score test drive it, that i am thankful for, they are protecting this car for enthusiasts that need the car in their life.

personally i wouldnt have bought my frs if it had more than 15 miles on it at the deanship, plus if they let ANYONE drive it, you have a ton of people trashing the engine, any dealership that doesnt allow people to test drive brand new sports cars without money on the table is a great dealership in my book, that means they most likely didnt abuse it nor did any one else get a chance to...

what would you buy a car with 11-15 miles no test drives or a car with 500 miles and 100 people romping on the engine and transmission....

Because a test drive consists of a 20 mile around the block cruise. I guess they (Toyota) forgot to bring back class to their dealerships when selling a TRUE sports car. I'm sorry I won't pay for a damn thing unless I know what I am getting.

I actually did. I told the guy I'm here for the ride, I know how quick it is.


That's why each dealership needs a demo model. It's not their fault there aren't enough to go around + demos.

I agree and disagree with this thread.

I agree that a person should be able to walk to a dealer, and be able to test drive the car they are interest in.

I agree that before any monies are put on the table the buyer knows exactly what kind of product he/she is about to purchase.

I also disagree that you need to test drive any car on the lot. If there are 10 FRS on the lot, I would not allow anyone to touch those cars. I would have a specific FRS car appointed as a demo car to show to customers.

I also disagree that dealers are treating their customers like crap and driving them away. While I can run down to a BMW dealer..in shorts and a beater, and test drive a brand new M3 off the lot without putting down any monies...this is not the same scenario as the FRS.

Its not about status, wealth, or misinformation. Its about the allocated number of vehicles per region, and being able to push to the specific target market, which sales reps are trained to deal with.

Member Godzilla in post #31 gives a good solution, one iv done numerous times myself and had much better experiences per dealer...vs doing a walk-in at the same dealers.

Mine had 7 at the port, and 7 at the dealer when I picked it up.

But yeah, they do about 5km (3miles) of test cycle QC check at the factory dyno, and they do drive it in a huge parking lot both at loading the ship, and unloading the ship at respective ports. Dealers also drive it to the gas station to fuel it with local fuel usually about 1/4 tank.



so it is not possible to get one with ZERO, unless you don't want them to check your engine and driveline/suspension... :D

my local Scion dealership let me test drive the FRS on two seperate occasions and the salesmen knew i wasnt planning on buying one for a year or so. but he was very nice and let me take out the manual one the first time then i came back with the fiance and took out the auto one and let her drive it also. he wasnt pushy or anything about going and trying to figure out numbers or anything. he just said ill call you and let you know when we get another manual in incase your ready to purchase one. I have noticed that the scion and subaru salesmen keeping using the word "rare" when they are talking about the car.

Can’t necessarily fault the dealers for not allowing test drives if the vehicles are already sold; however, when I was inquiring about pre-orders, some dealers in my area were requiring nonrefundable deposits. I felt like telling them that would be equivalent of finding someone on an online dating site and buying an engagement ring strictly based on the person’s online profile before going on the first date….
Personally, I think Scion corporation deserves its fair share of the blame too. When I look at the posts, it seems a lot of frustration originates with them. Consider the following:
- Apparent lack of communication during the First 86 program between dealers and Scion. How many winners called to place their deposits with the dealers only to have the dealers reply back they knew nothing of the First 86 promotion, let alone a winner selected their dealer.
- The inconsistency of doc fees and lack of enforcement of Pure Pricing. For a system that markets itself as consumer friendly, it is obvious that the consumer is at a disadvantage. I can understand local / state taxes and registration fees varying, but unless there is a legal limitation, dealers are free to charge whatever they want for doc fees. If Pure Pricing was indeed for the benefit of both buyer and seller, then dealers who markup beyond MSRP should receive the same repercussion as those who sell below MSRP.
- Considering the overwhelming demand for the car, why advertise on TV now? There are pre-orders yet to be filled and what is Scion going to accomplish when the average consumer is interested at goes to the dealer only to discover there are none available to see or test drive. Most of us here in the forum have waited and are willing to wait, but I doubt the average consumer is that patient considering other vehicles that are readily available. IMHO, the marketing money initially spent on these advertisements could have been better used on more driving events like the ones in Baltimore and Charlotte. Let the car sell itself!!
I’ll get off my soapbox now.
/Rant

Beat me to the punch on this one. All your points ^above^ are exact ones I would make.

My experience is that Corporate has a better handle on it than the dealers, but not by much.

A couple more examples from the 1st86 program.

Inconsistency in the delivery of the cars. Some were done with great fanfare, some (like mine) were barely normal car deliveries.

Communication with the group since Long Beach has been nonexistent. In fact, even the end of the Long Beach event was anti-climatic. We went to the race on Saturday and, well, nothing after that. No closeout event that night, no note on our pillow saying thanks for coming, nothing.

Don't get me wrong, it was a great event, and overall a good program where I got exactly what I was promised, early delivery of the car, but it just fell off a cliff. In the end, it was done half-baked. Parts were well done and tasty, other parts of it were just plain raw and ingrediants were missing.

Technically, we still don't even know that the program has come to a close or not.

You can change the title to "Subaru's biggest enemy is their own dealerships."

Same thing from all dealers. I got my BRZ with 6 miles on it. Detailer drove it to a gas station and filled it up and that was it.

My 5 last cars I purchased without a test drive. Either a friend or a friend of the family was working on the deal for me. Guess you could say I like to roll the dice and take a risk on not knowing if its going to work out. Personally to me a test drive does not matter if its a brand new car and I know what the said vehicles intended purpose is. If the numbers look good to me thats all I care about really. Otherwise why waste any time on a deal.

Everyone has different buying habits. What you have to do is find a dealership that will work with you. Very sorry to hear about what happened. Hope you find the peace you need in the automotive world :)

2013 FRS

2007 Audi A4

2006 VW GTI

2000 Dodge Dakota

1999 Camaro w/ TTOPS

All no test drive buys :D The only car I test drove was the VW Tiguan for the wife.

By the way I just noticed my car buying pattern. Fingers crossed I break the year mark lol



I see what you did there :) Half baked? In the LBC nahhhhhh :D